Servanthood

My first notions about what it means to be a servant were synonomous with what it means to be a slave. Both of those terms have taken on different and ever changing meanging for me over the years, but I still more often than not find myself linking servitude with bondage.

As a Bible study with my sister has coincided with the start of reading the Bible through in a year, I've been met once again with the opportunity to think through the meaning of servanthood. I've only begun to think, but the thoughts that are being connected have left me with a clearer picture on the meaning of the phrase "water is thicker than blood".

R.C. Sproul says in his book, Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow:

The motivation for Christian service is love for God. We serve not to earn salvation, but because Christ already has purchased salvation for us....We should be motivated to serve Him out of joy for what He has done for us, not out of grim obligation or as a means to gain heaven.

Elsewhere Sproul points out that God wants us to "invest in the future" and use our gifts "for the sake of the kingdom".

What a perfect Old Testament example God gives us in the story of Abraham's servant Eliezer. It is assumed that Eliezer is the one whom Abraham charges to find a wife for Isaac from his own land and his own kindred. It is said in Genesis 24 that this servant is the oldest of Abraham's household and in charge of all that Abraham possessed. These citings alone show that Eliezer was a faithful and trusted servant. Could Eliezer have been with Abraham since he and his family lived in Haran or even since Ur? Whether or not Eliezer had been with Abraham that long one thing is certain, he had an extensive family history and knew exactly what Abraham meant when he was charged to find a wife from among Abraham's land and kindred. It's pretty safe to assume that Abraham didn't give his servant a quick family history lesson and tutorial along with all the viable prospects for his son's marriage and then send Eliezer off hoping he'd get the job done right. No, if Eliezer was the most trusted and oldest of Abraham's household he most likely knew Abraham quite well. He probably could recite Abraham's family liniage all the way back to Adam. He could more than likely rattle off Abraham and Sarah's 4th-cousins-twice-removed without batting an eye. He probably could finish Abraham's sentences before Abraham himself could. He seems to be that kind of servant that defies all modern notions of what servants are supposed to be. Could he have bordered on friend?

The one place in all of Scripture where Eliezer's name is actually mentioned shows us that he was more than servant, more than friend. Genesis 15 says that Eliezer was heir to all that Abraham possessed. Before Ishmael. Before Isaac. When all hope of having a blood heir, a son, seemed lost, Abraham counted his most trusted, most faithful, longest standing member of his household as his heir.

The interesting thing is, Genesis 24 comes after Genesis 15. Common sense, I know. But when you look at it in terms of true servanthood we are reminded that Eliezer wasn't motivated by any prospective inheritance. The birth of a son to his master Abraham didn't deter him from his duty and purpose, rather it motivated his duty and purpose. He cared so deeply for his master that he was motivated to invest in the future, to use his gifts of service for the sake of the kingdom.

What a picture of selfless servanthood. What a picture of our role as servants of Christ, heirs of His great and precious promises.

Something to Talk About

Often times someone just needs something to talk about. As an individual who gets paid to use words on a daily basis--and a lot of them at that--I find that by mid-afternoon I have used up my word allotment for the day. Being an introvert doesn't help. And being a busy introvert doesn't help either.

But every once in a while something will come up that just needs to be talked about. Enter...The Ragnar Relay !


Here's the short of it: Running 200 miles in 24 hours with 11 dear friends to raise money for King's Meadow Study Center's Chalmers Fund. Why do such a crazy thing? Well, for starters because it's going to be a lot of fun, but the main reason I will be both running and volunteering in this incredibly wonderful craziness is because I believe in the purpose. Raising scholarship money for prospective students for both Franklin Classical School and New College Franklin is a worthwhile calling.

I've been in school all my life--first as student, now as teacher. I have been a beneficiary of sacrificial giving from individuals who felt called to give to scholarship funds so I could get through highschool and college. And now it's my turn to both give back and encourage others to do the same.

Now that's something to talk about!

Follow my progress as I join the Sum Ergo Zoom running team on November 5th and 6th, and tell everyone you know to donate by going to my online fundraising site: www.crowdrise.com/amyshore

It really is something to talk about...so TELL EVERYBODY!

A Short Sabatical

Yup, I know. This is not another installment of the 20 Days of Randomness. Let me apologize now. Due to a conference here, a conference there, and the minor tragedy of computer harddrive failure, posting has been anything but proficient these days. And as I am about to flee the country I must confess proficiency will not get any better within the next two weeks. But before I go I just wanted to say that I'm excited. And that while I'm away I have absolutely no plans save getting to my destination. I shall be bringing only the necessities, and I've whittled down the necessary books to equal 5. I was shooting for 3, but justified two more due to the fact that they are rather small and I could probably read them both twice a piece just on the flight over. But don't worry, where I am going there is a rather good and recourseful library so don't think that I'm starving myself due to the fact that each additional check in bag cost one arm plus $25.

Here's what I'm taking to English L'Abri, and heaven only knows what all I'll be bringing back:

The Mark of Christ's Elect

"God knoweth that ye are his own. Wrestle, fight, go forward, watch, fear,believe, pray; & then ye have all the infallible symptoms of one of the elect of Christ within you." Samuel Rutherford

Nehemiah 2

The dreams of the night often evaporate in the cool light of the morning. So dreamers have to become thinkers, planners, and workers. People of vision need to become people of action. So Nehemiah, though inspired by his vision of the rebuilt city, had to make a plan. Soon after his arrival in Jerusalem he undertook a personal reconnaissance. By night he went out, examining the walls of Jerusalem. Thus in true leadership vision and action, a dream and a plan go together. —John Stott

Jacob and the Persevering Love of God

"Jacob is a particularly important patriarch because he was the father of the chosen people, who came to be known as 'the children of Jacob' or ' children of Israel'. He is introduced in the Old Testament narrative, however, as a man who knew God's promises but could not trust him to keep them, so that he took things into his own hands to engineer their fulfillment. First he tricked Esau in Canaan. Then in Paddan Aram (Mesopotamia) he and his brother-in-law Laban spent their time deceiving one another. Jacob was more a schemer than a believer.

Now, on his return from Paddan Aram, we realize that 'Jacob was left alone' (Genesis 32:24). Yet God refused to leave him alone. He came to him in his aloneness. That night Jacob met God in a decisive and transforming encounter. It was in two stages.



First God wrestled with Jacob. We know that it was God (a theophany) because Jacob later called the place Peniel, meaning 'the face of God'. God wrestled with him in order by love to conquer him and continued the struggle until daybreak without success. Then when he 'saw that he could not overpower him' (v. 25), God touched and dislocated his thigh. A single touch of the divine finger was enough; Jacob surrendered. With us too God begins gently and perseveres in love. But if we still resist, he resorts to more drastic measures until he touches and breaks us.

In the second stage the wrestlers change place, and Jacob wrestles with God. 'Let go,' God said, but Jacob responded, 'I will not let you go until you bless me' (v. 26). It is as if Jacob said to God, 'You promised to bless Abraham, my father Isaac, and me. Now fulfill your promise and bless me!' So 'he blessed him there' (v. 29). God wrestles with us in order to break down our stubbornness; we wrestle with God in order to inherit his promises." —John Stott

Sweet and Bitter

"I know no sweeter way to heaven than through
free grace and hard trials together."
Samuel Rutherford

FCS: A Cultural Marker

I love this kinda thing. I love it when the students come up with it on their own. I love it when I'm reminded why I do what I do. I love it when I'm reminded that the vision for the future is so much bigger than me.

Monday, Monday.

Monday. A day to look back and wish that it was Saturday or Sunday.

Monday. A day to look forward to the fact that there are only five more days separating us from the next Saturday.

Monday. A day that never fails to remind us that we need to work to pay the bills.

Monday. A day that breeds temptation to hit the snooze button a few more times.

Monday. The second day of the week on most Protestant calendars and the first work day. It is a day of truth. One that sheds some light on why we do what we do. Is it because there are mouths to feed? Is it because work is a necessary evil and we have to earn a living somehow? Or is it because we believe in what we are called to set our hand to? Because we believe that there is purpose in the midst of our daily endeavors?

John Stott in his book Through the Bible Through the Year points out that the "Monday morning blues" bear witness to the fact that we are in need of an authentic Christian philosophy of work. Genesis 2:15 says that, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." God put the man that He created into the garden that He planted to "work it and take care of it". Why not take care of it Himself? He made the garden. He made the man to take care of the garden. Why not leave out one extra step and do it Himself? Stott goes on to say, "God deliberately humbled Himself to need Adam's cooperation." God could have tended the garden Himself. But He chose not to!

Stott sums up his thoughts on an authentic Christian philosophy of work with this:

"We need, then, to make an important distinction between nature and culture. Nature is what God gives us; culture is what we make of it (agriculture, horticulture, etc.). Nature is raw materials; culture is commodities prepared for the market. Nature is divine creation; culture is human cultivation. God invites us to share in His work. Indeed, our work becomes a privilege when we see it as collaboration with God."